Greenhouse-gutter.



- TED STATES tra.,

ce1-L IcKns, or, cnrcaco, ILLINos.

GRnENHoUsE-GUTTER.

To all lwhom t may concern Be it known that I, CARL IcKEs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago,

in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and usefullmlprovement in Greenhouse-Gutters, of which kunderstood by those skilled in the art that green houses usually consist ot a number ot sections or individualV buildings joined together at the eaves'so as to make a Isingle structure. With green houses of this type the water resulting 'from rain and snow can- 'not fall yto the ground as soon yas it reaches the `eaves but'must be-`carriedalong tothe endy of the building. Greenhouses are of 'comparatively light "construction and yet it is of great importancethat the water should be carried oi eectually' andfnot be permitted to leak at thefpo'int Awhere the buildings are joined. To produce a water tighty gutter at the eaves has always presented considerable diiiiculty, especially where 'wood' is "employed in the construction of the trough or gutter. Metal gutters are frequently employed but they are objectionable in some respects, particularly because they are ready conductors of heat, and in winter transmit the heat of the green house to the atmosphere and thus dissipate it at a much greater rate than wood would do, while in summer they absorb heat Jfrom the sun and transmit it to the inside of the green house,

thus unduly raising the temperature within.

For this and other reasons wood is preterable, but even cypress has a certain co-etlicient of expansion and contraction under variations in moisture, and the object of my invention is to produce a construction employing wood which will nevertheless remain water-tight under all conditions and weathers and which will possess a configuration which may be readily produced commercially and which will allow for certain irregularities of manufacture so that the parts will be sure to assemble even though not made with perfect accuracy.

I attain my object by the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows in a more or less conventional orm a cross sectional elevation of a green house employing my invention.

F ig. 2 is a cross sectional elevation of tom member.

:Specification of Letters Batent. i r1li-"aftelatedC{, 3 0 Appncauon fue@ February e, 1917.v serial No'. 147.667. i f 1 ythroughout the several views.

The rposts l supportthe roof structure according to any suitable plan; Theplans may be varied and various ones are -well known and hence need Anot be here described in detail. It will be sutiicient'i'or the Vpresent purpose to say that the 'rafters 22, which 'form part of the roof structure, are overlaid-with glass tops 3 as usual. At the Afoot `of the rafters are membersfl lwhich vStorm the sides of the trough orgutter. In order'to Acarry 'ott the moisture collecting inside fof the roof it is desirable Ato provide drip conductors 5 of any suitable; type. 'These are here shown to be fastened tothe insides of itheside members.

Extending from one side memberf-touthe other 1s a bottom member 6 which has grooves 7 infits upper surface arranged l lparallel and near to the edges. Each groove is preferably inclined at both sides. The side members t are each rabbeted at point 8 to receive the edge of the bottom member, consequently the side member projects for a limited distance over the top of the bot- A tongue 9 is formed at the top of the rabbet and this tits into the groove formed in the bottom member. By preference the tongue fills the entire bottom of the groove, but the external wall of the side member is vertical and does not follow the inclined side of the groove, hence a channel l0 is formed which is widest at the top and has converging sides which meet at the bottom.

@ne of the primary advantages of the structure previously described and particularly the herein set forth relation of the vantage thus gained is entirely involuntary in that the paint automatically settles in the channel. not have to make a conscious effort to put paint in the channel and hence no skilled labor is required to completely erect the gutter, while the necessity and expense of` providing an'independent L,waterproof filler is entirely avoided.

VAnother feature of great practical importance in respect to the invention is that the `shape of the bottom and sides is so simple that these parts can be easily produced commercially; that is to say, they lend themselves readily to milling and do not haveto be manufactured by hand; nor will the gutter fail to assemble if the expected inaccuracies of manufacture in quantity present themselves.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. -A green house gutter having a bottom and a side rising from it, the bottom member having a groove in its upper surface arranged parallel with the edge of said bottom member, and the side member projecting over the edge of the bottom member and having a tongue descending into said groove, said groove having an inclined inner side whereby a channel is formed between it and the adjacent upright surface of the side member.

Therefore, the painter does 2. A green house gutter having a bottom member arranged flatwise and having a flaring groove in the Vtop running along near the edge, and a side member rising at the edge of the vbottom member, said side member having a tongue projecting over into said groove and completely filling the bottom thereof, the side member having a vertical side surface rising from the far edgeof the bottom of the groove.

3. A green house gutter having a side member having a` rabbet in one side and a depending tongue on the overhanging portion, and a bottom member the edge whereof enters said rabbet from the side, said bottom member having a groove in its top surface, into which said tongue fits, the side member iaving a vertical surface on the gutter side and the gutter side of the groove being inclined away from said vertical surface for 'the purpose described.

, il. A green house gutter having abottom and a side rising therefrom,said bottom having a groove in the top running.parallel- Ya portion of said groove being left unoccupied by said tongue.

In witness whereof,l have hereunto `sub-v n scribed my name.

CARL iones.

y Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ofiatents,

Washington, D. G. 

